The mysterious winner of a 5-million-yuan (US$605,000) top prize has given up the huge windfall, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Wednesday.

The lottery center annulled the winning ticket 12 AM Wednesday after extending the prize-claiming period by one day.

The top prize of Pan-Pearl River Delta sports lottery was announced May 9 at a sales outlet on Xingang Road East in Haizhu District. The winner spent 240 yuan on a 10-draw-number ticket and won one top prize, three second prizes, 18 third prizes and 1,385 last prizes totaling 5.068 million yuan.

The lottery seller said the winner could be a Henan migrant living nearby who continued to buy tickets at his outlet after the winning numbers were announced.

Some people said the winner could have lost the ticket or destroyed it in a washing machine. Others said the winner could have forgotten about it and never checked the winning numbers.

The Daily reminded buyers last week that winners should go to the lottery center to cash in their prizes within 28 days after the lucky numbers were announced.

The unclaimed prize will return to the pool and be used as a reward for "lucky Wednesday" second prizewinners in a series of promotional sales.

The second prizewinners can get as much as 1 million yuan on Wednesdays in the next three to five weeks.

A lottery buyer can pick seven numbers out of 36 for a draw at 2 yuan in the game.

(Shenzhen Daily June 9, 2005)